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“You lost,Mother,” I said, breaking the silence. Reena stared at me in horror, her skin already turning a mottled gray, the life draining out of her swiftly and violently, the blood of the Sluagh, of the undead faerie commander flowing through her, eating up every morsel of magic that kept her alive for so long. She deserved this fate. It'd been coming for her for a long time.
And then just like that she was gone. A clap of thunder as the skies opened up with pouring rain heralded a sweeping magic that rolled over Karn. I felt the breaking of the curse. The freeing of the Wild Hunt. The liberation of the human kingdom. I felt it break away and wither into nothing as her skin began to blacken and crumble. And then just for good measure, I swung cadoc’s blade, severing Reena’s head from her body.
Somewhere in the back of my head, I felt a fleeting presence, gratitude and thanks for ending her suffering. I felt it pass before I could grasp onto it, and I knew…I just knew that I would never see her again.
Kirsi was free. Free of the curse that held her in a perpetual limbo. Free from the witch who’d done this to her so many centuries ago. Free of the agony of a halflife. I’d done as the queen commander had asked me and in return I was free from my bargain. From my shackles.
* * *
I keptone hand wrapped around the hilt of my dagger and the other buried in Zephyr’s mane. Just the feel of his comforting presence grounded me. In the pocket of my satchel was the now empty vial that I’d wrapped carefully in silks to keep it from breaking on the long journey to the Veil.
The princes rode ahead of me, save for Vazden who was flying somewhere above us in the skies. Humans whispered and shouted, some of them running for their lives, gathering their loved ones and fleeing into their homes as the princes bore down upon them like monsters from nightmares. They were bounty hunters—mercenaries. They were executioners, and they were fearsome to behold, especially traveling as a united force with one single goal in mind. Freedom.
Even the city guard deferred to faeries of the Wild Hunt. They parted for them, shooing people out of the streets so they wouldn’t get stomped on by a saber or one of the prince’s massive elhorns. Karn was unusually active for this late in the night.
I glanced to my right where Neera and Drystan were perched atop an elhorn of their own. Drystan had the reins, a golden crown atop his head fit for Karn’s new king, and both of his arms wrapped around Neera as she nestled into his chest. I couldn’t fight the smile that stretched my lips. When hadthathappened?
Neera chose that moment to look at me, finding me grinning, and rolled her blue eyes, shaking her head. I winked, and she laughed, her shoulders shaking with the force of trying to keep it in. Drystan looked confused, peering down at the top of Neera’s head, unable to see how smug she looked cozied up to him.
I glanced behind their steed to where Dane was currently glaring daggers into the back of my brother’s kingly head. He was alone on his own steed, a saber that wiggled when it walked, jostling him around hilariously. I wanted to feel bad for him. I really did. Neera was fighting her own inner battle at the moment, torn between two men who shared feelings for her. A king and a guard who couldn’t seem to get along for the life of them.
“He looks comfortable back there,”Erix sent the thought through the connection that linked the six of us now. I startled, still not used to voices in my head appearing out of nowhere.
There was an answering chuckle as Cadoc responded,“Poor male doesn’t know when he’d been beaten. I almost pity him.”
I narrowed my eyes at the back of Erix’s head.“Are you two reading my thoughts? I thought we discussed a little thing called personal privacy.”
Up ahead, I watched the two of them glance at each other guiltily. They somehow managed to keep their faces neutral, masks of utter calmness as faeries to the left and right scrutinized us closely. Erix turned his face slightly.“I was only trying to make sure you were alright. Court can be…overwhelming.”
I rolled my eyes at his sorry excuse.“I’m fine. You’re forgetting who I was before all of this nonsense. You don’t have to check up on me. This is probably the most normal thing I’ve done in the last couple of months. Court, I can handle myself without you digging around in my head.”
“Give the pretty halfling her privacy, brothers,”Haelo’s voice entered the conversation without invitation. I cut my eyes at him from behind as his elhorn slowed down, allowing Zephyr to come up beside him. When he met my glare he was smirking wickedly, his pale eyes dipping to where my thighs straddled Zephyr.“We wouldn’t want to disturb any…salacious fantasies she might want to distract herself with. Don’t worry, Kyre, I promise not to spy.”
I choked on my own spit, and Zephyr rumbled under me, worried. I coughed and sputtered for a moment, patting Zeph’s mane, telling him I was fine. Meanwhile, I made sure to send the image of me cutting out each of their talkative tongues down the mental connection. Each of them mentally winced. Before I cut off the connection, I told them that they should be grateful it wasn’t their cocks instead.
The castle I once called home, loomed in front of us. The gates rose over a vast garden which surrounded the entire thing. The garden was in full bloom, teeming with Acacia flowers. Zephyr let out a low whine as we passed by them, smelling their potioned petals.
What an odd choice…
A dozen guards were posted outside of the main entrance. They moved aside for Cadoc as he slid off of his elhorn. The rest of the hunt was filling in behind us as the outer gates began to close, effectively caging us inside. The hunt chattered and hissed, causing guardsmen to stumble backwards out of reach of claws and teeth.
I looked to the sky as the flapping of massive wings sounded overhead. Several more castle guards surrounded us as Vazden dropped out of the sky, landing steadily on his feet with a boom that rattled my teeth. There was a small crowd building behind us, humans clamoring to watch.
End escort fit for royalty. The Wild Hunt of legends.
The princes parted for Drystan as he guided his elhorn up the center of the host of faeries, approaching a human wall of castle guard. Every one of them stared at my brother wide wide eyes, mouths agape in awe. Their weapons fell from their hands as they fell to their knees in deference.
In that one moment, I realized that it was over. I’d done what I promised myself I would do from the very beginning.
Their king was home.
Their true king.
The king who would unite the realms with an immortal army at his back.
Kyre
Two months later
